Judging position of ball

Rob Chun Unknown Asked 15 years ago

Hi, i have problem with judging where the ball is going to be. During a rally, I sometimes hit air instead of the ball. Any ideas why this may be the case? If anything, it seems to occur more on my backhand than forehand.  One may say that it is the spin, but I do compensate for this and am starting to wonder if my eyesite is failing,

BTW - the serving secrets DVD was very instructive. My serves have improved a lot since then.  

Thanx,

Rob 

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Rob,

It may well be your eyes or it may be that you need to practice focusing on the ball more closely.

I have known players that have had their eye checked and started to wear glasses which has made a huge improvement.  They didn't know that they couldn't see the ball properly before that.

The other cause could well be that you are not tracking the ball well.

If you watch the super slo motions of Roger Federer you will see how well he watches the ball even compared to other highly ranked Tennis players.  His eyes are fixed on the ball and point of contact intensely.

Experiemnt for a while during practice and try totrack the ball from the time it is in your hand or opponents hand for serving right up till th epoin that it touches the floor. Yes that means even after it goes off the table.  Do this for a few minutes at a time.  you may find it difficult to maintain for longer than this initially.  When i say watch the ball I mean try to see the label on the ball.  Even though you may never see it keep looking for the label during every second the ball is in play.  See if this helps you with hitting the ball.